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The team at Baker & McKenzieâ€“CIS, Limited has â€˜a deep knowledge of trade mark lawâ€™, and â€˜is well able to resolve complicated IP mattersâ€™. Practice head Eugene Arievich represented Hotel Cipriani in its long-running dispute against Altinus Trading over the Cipriani trade mark. Denis Khabarov heads the IP litigation practice, and Margarita Divina is the key contact for non-contentious matters.

At Dentons, practice head Victor Naumov splits his time between Moscow and St Petersburg, advising on all aspects of IP protection. Highlights for the firm included assisting Rosatom with the registration of trade marks across 23 countries and representing VKontakte in a series of illegal content-related disputes.

â€˜One of the leading IP practices in the Russian legal marketâ€™, Hogan Lovells (CIS)â€™ team â€˜works at the highest levelâ€™. â€˜Highly skilledâ€™ practice head Natalia Gulyaeva recently advised Ford on its extensive trade mark portfolio. Other clients include Rusal, GlaxoSmithKline and Mattel.

Gorodissky & Partnersâ€™ â€˜extremely qualifiedâ€™ team provides, arguably, â€˜the best support for private equity clients and major businessesâ€™. Practice head Valery Medvedev handles prosecution and enforcement of patent rights in the mechanics and engineering space. Toyota and Celgene are key clients.

David Aylen heads the practice at Gowling WLG, which is advising Rosatom on registering patents and trade marks in Russia and overseas. Vladislav Ugryumov, who handles patent litigation and prosecution, has notable expertise in the life sciences sector.

The team at Patent & Law Firm Yus provides â€˜a deep insight into the field of IPâ€™ and has â€˜a good view of the peculiarities of each caseâ€™. Managing partner Sergey Lovtsov and Maria Lovtsova, who â€˜presents information in a clear and concise mannerâ€™, are the key names. Clients include Russian Railways, Rusnano and Lukoil.

Pepeliaev Groupâ€™s â€˜quick and attentiveâ€™ team is jointly headed by Valentina Orlova and Yuri Yahin. The duo recently represented the Gala-Salvador DalÃ­ Foundation in a dispute pertaining to the unlawful exhibition of copyrighted paintings. Other clients include Rosatom, Monsanto and Japan Tobacco International.

The â€˜highly experiencedâ€™ team at Andrey Gorodissky & Partners â€˜works in a coordinated, responsive and client-oriented wayâ€™. Trade mark lawyer Elena Gorodisskaya is â€˜a brilliant practitioner with a perfect reputationâ€™, and Alexey Gorodissky is the other key contact. Highlights included representing an individual entrepreneur in trade mark-related civil proceedings in Kazakhstan.

CMSâ€™ expertise includes IP litigation, data protection, transactional matters, as well as registration and protection of IP assets. Anton Bankovskiy heads the department, which recently represented Carrier in a series of trade mark infringement and domain name disputes.

The team at Egorov Puginsky Afanasiev & Partners has â€˜unparalleled mastery in court proceedingsâ€™ and â€˜an extensive knowledge of IP regulations and Russian lawâ€™. Pavel Sadovsky heads the practice, which is representing Formula One in several anti-counterfeit cases and trade mark registration proceedings.

Alexander Ermolenko heads the department at FBK Legal, which recently advised Sport Broadcasting on transferring broadcasting rights of the 2016 Olympic Games to Gazprom-Media. Other clients include Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts and Sberbank.

Intellect-S maintains â€˜a high level of communication with the clientâ€™. Maxim Labzin is â€˜a great speaker in court hearingsâ€™ and has â€˜a strong background in IP litigationâ€™. Evgeny Shestakov heads the team.

Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP advises on all aspects of IP law including copyright, licensing, franchising, anti-counterfeiting and domain name issues. Brian Zimbler is the key practitioner, and has worked extensively with high-profile technology companies and start-ups on IP protection matters. Clients include Warner Bros, NBC Universal and Viacom.

Noerrâ€™s Vyacheslav Khayryuzov advises on a range of issues including IP due diligence, media and software licensing, data protection and broadcasting. Viktor Gerbutov specialises in Russian and international litigation, and has handled numerous internet-related disputes.

Squire Patton Boggs is noted for its strength in patent-related issues, and work highlights included numerous patent prosecution, protection and registration matters. Olga Bezrukova heads the practice, where key clients include 3M, Surinder and Strauss Coffee.

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Law firm partners and practice heads explain how their firms are adapting to clients' changing needs

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GC Powerlist: Russia

The Legal 500, Legal Business, GC Magazine and The In-House Lawyer event in Moscow brought a range of Russiaâ€™s finest in-house counsel together to celebrate the launch of this yearâ€™s GC Powerlist: Russia Teams.

The
Federal Tax Service of Russia issued Letter â„– CA-4-7/ 6152 @ of 16.08.2017, in
which it clarified to its subordinate tax authorities the application of new Art.
54.1 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation "Limits on the Exercise of
Rights in Calculating the Tax Base and (or) the Amount of Tax, Levy, Insurance
Contributions", which was included in the Tax Code of the Russian Federation
by Federal Law â„– 163-FZ of 18.07.2017.

At
the present time, in various legal relationships there exists the acute problem
of observing a balance of interests concerning the parties involved in these
legal relationships, their legal rights, and their mutual economic needs.
Judicial practice, when considering disputes between these kinds of parties,
takes into consideration not only the formal requirements of legislation, but
also the real economic and legal goals and interests of the participants.

It is well known that before making significant managerial decisions, the general
director must obtain approval from the shareholders or the board of directors.
Apart from that, if a director is personally interested in entering into a
transaction, approval is also required to proceed with the transaction. In the
absence of such an approval, the transaction can be challenged and, in certain
circumstances, invalidated. In order to minimize such risks and to eliminate
legal uncertainty for the parties to the transaction, the rules governing major
transactions and interested transactions must be sufficiently clear.
Previously, however, the application of these rules was associated with a large
number of controversial legal issues, which were finally solved as a result of
the legislative amendments, which will enter into force on January 1, 2017.
According to the new amendments, the distinction between major and non-major
transactions has been delineated more clearly, parties have been allowed more
flexibility in relation to approving transactions, the burdensome obligation to
obtain prior approval of interested transactions has been abrogated, and
finally the procedure for challenging transactions in question has been made
much more complex. Overall, the changes should have a positive influence on
business, as they contribute to the establishment of firm legal certainty in
this area of the law.Â

The rent for leases, especially those in downtown Moscow and other large cities, is often based on the foreign currency exchange rate, which has recently increased almost threefold. Many businesses have been taken aback by this consequence of the economic crisis. Some of them have been put on verge of bankruptcy because of the increased rent and were forced to seek remedies in courts.

On July 29,
2016, a consortium of consultants led by the InfraONE investment company
presented a project to create a high-speed off-street light rail transport
system in the Moscow Region, promoted with the assistance of the VEGAS LEX law
firm and the Moscow Region Government's support.

On 03 February 2016, the Senior Associate of
Corporate Practice at VEGAS LEX Alexander Garmaev presented an overview of
judicial practice on corporate disputes at a seminar hosted by the magazine Aktsionernoye
Obshchestvo (Joint Stock Company).

Pepeliaev Groupâ€™s tax practice (Band 1) has once again been hailed as the best on the Russian market according to the Chambers Europe 2015 international legal ratings. Clients surveyed by the experts of Chambers Europe consider that â€œthe lawyers dig deep to find issues that play a role in the mandate," while the team stands out because it â€œis flexible and understands clients' needs."

On May 12-15, 2015, the Public-Private Partnership Development Institute organized a professional development program for Rostelecom staff on PPP projects. VEGAS LEX experts were invited to speak at training sessions.